When infants, children, or pets are left unattended in a passenger compartment of a closed vehicle with a high sun load for a period of time, the temperature within the passenger compartment may increase, causing heatstroke symptoms that may result in serious injury or death. Since 1998, the Department of Meteorology & Climate Science at San Jose State University documented an average of thirty eight child heatstroke fatalities occurring in vehicles in the United States each year. Similarly, infants, children, or pets left unattended in the passenger compartment of a vehicle in a cold climate for a period of time could experience temperatures low enough to cause harmful conditions such as hypothermia or frostbite. Therefore, a system that can detect an unattended child or pet in a passenger compartment of a vehicle and automatically take safety countermeasures is desired.
The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.